Wrapper carton incorporating center partitioning means



March 17, 1959 H. w. FORRER 2,377,894

WRAPPER CARTON INCORPORATING CENTER PARTITIONING MEANS Filed Feb. 13,1958 3 Sheets-Sheet l l M INVENTOR. J l/OMER m Farmfi 32 fi 5 mm ATTORNEYS March 17, 1959 H. w. FORRER 2,877,894

WRAPPER CARTON INCORPORATING CENTER PARTITIONING MEANS 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 1:5, 1958 IN VEN TOR. #0045 H. FORRER JTTORNEVS WRAPPER CARTON INCORPORATING CENTER PARTITIONING MEANS Filed Feb. 13, 1958 March 17, 1959 H. w. FORRER 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 44 a 6 4 mil iv?! W 0 :5 HVVENTOR ,9 v ao/v5? m Fae/PER ATTORNCVS WRAPPER CARTON INCORPORATING CENTER PARTITIONING MEANS Homer W. Forrer, Atlanta, Ga., assignor to Mead-Atlanta Paper Company, a corporation of Ohio Application February 13, 1958, Serial No. 715,073

8 Claims. (Cl. 206--65) This invention relates to paperboard wrapper cartons of the type adapted to be folded and secured about a group of articles or objects to form an open-ended merchandising package or the like, and more particularly to a wrapper for forming a package of this sort while providing center partitioning means in the package that is uniquely arranged not only to perform a protective separating function, but also to serve as a positioning means for objects within the package.

For this purpose, the wrapper carton of the present invention is arranged for folding about a package group of objects with one end portion thereof extending as a separating partition within the package and further formed to provide the sole means by which the objects at one side of the package are positioned therein, so that the side wall panel portion at this side of the package does not require any positioning openings or the like therein and may therefore be formed to present a continuous surface, that may be employed advantageously for advertising or decorative display purposes, and that also oifers substantial protective advantages in packaging glassware and the like.

These and other features of the present invention are described in further detail below in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a Wrapper enclosed package incorporating center partitioning means in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an end view of the package shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a central transverse section taken substantially on the line 3--3 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section taken substantially on the line 44 in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a blank such as may be employed in forming the wrapper carton for the package illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4.

The embodiment of the present invention illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4 of the drawings comprises a package of glass bottles B arranged in two aligned rows within a paperboard wrapper W folded and secured thereabout. The wrapper W is formed with atop wall panel portion in which apertures 12 are formed through which the neck portions of the bottles B may be extended, and in which suitable handhold apertures or the like may be provided, as indicated at 14, for carrying the package conveniently.

At each side of the top wall panel portion 10, side wall panel portions 16 and 18 are arranged on opposite sides of the package group of bottles B in substantially paired relation as to size. Each of the side Wall panel portions 16 and 18 has foldable corner portions 20 and 22 arranged therein to allow oblique folding of the wrapper W for following generally the shape of the bottles B adjacent the neck portions thereof, and the side wall panel portion 16 is further formed with an additional foldable corner portion 24 in which positioning slots or openings 26 are provided for engaging the base of each bottle B in the adjacent-row of the package group, while the other States Pater 2,877,894 Patented Mar. 17, 1959 side wall panel portion 18 is left continuous and unfoldably arranged at the extending edgev of the lap panel portion 28 with a disposition in separating relation between the rows of bottles B within the package, while the other side wall panel portion 18 has a second lap panel portion 32 extending therefrom beneath the other row of bottles B in overlapping relation with respect to the first mentioned lap panel portion 28 and secured thereto.

The center partition panel portion 30 may, and preferably does, extend in a height sutficient to provide complete separation between the rows of bottles B within the package, as illustrated in the drawings, and this partition panel portion 30 is further uniquely arranged according to the present invention, adjacent the lap panel portion 28 from which it extends, for positioning the bottles B in the row disposed at the continuous side wall panel portion 18. The positioning means provided in the partition panel portion 30 for this purpose corresponds generally with the positioning slots or openings 26 formed in the side wall panel portion 16, but differs therefrom in that central partitioning tab portions 34 are left extending downwardly thereat to maintain a complete partitioning separation to the base of the bottles B, and sidewise hinged flaps 36 are left at each side of the tab portions 34. These flap portions 36 may be eliminated if desired, but they act advantageously in engaging the adjacent bottles B for positioning and further avoid the necessity for forming cutouts in the wrapper W thereat, which is usually a substantial manufacturing advantage.

The above mentioned arrangement of the lap panel portion 28 to extend beyond the bottles B in the row at which it is disposed results in oifsetting the adjacent edge of the partition panel portion 30 for effective positioning engagement with the bottles B in the other package row, while leaving the partition panel portion 30, through the arrangement of the downwardly extending tab portions 34 therein, to serve effectively as a center partitioning means between the two rows of bottles B, and to act further for maintaining the bottles B in the row disposed at the side wall panel portion 16 tightly engaged in the positioning slots 26 thereof. By this arrangement, it is possible to position the individual bottles B in each row so that they are effectively retained within the package in spaced relation, while the center partition panel portion 30 provides complete protective separation between the respective rows of bottles and thereby provides a package in which each bottle B is individually arranged for protection against breakage. Furthermore, as the side Wall panel portion 18 is continuous, it is possible to arrange a group of the packages for shipping with the unbroken side wall panel portion 18 of one package adjacent the other side wall panel portion 16 of another package and thereby afford complete separating protection between all of the bottles B in a shipping assembly of package groups thereof enclosed within the Wrappers W.

In order 'to secure the wrapper W about the rows of bottles B in package form, the lap panel portions 28 and 32 are preferably formed with respectively aligned retaining and locking tabs 38 and 40 of the type disclosed in U. S. Patent No. 2,786,572; the retaining and locking tabs 38 and 40 being cut out respectively in the lap panels 28 and 32 so as to remain hinged thereto in alignment with the spaces resulting in the package between the bottles B, and the wrapper W being secured by insertion of the locking tabs 40 inwardly through the openings in the lap panel 28 at theretaining tabs 38 with the locking tabs 40 extending substantially uprightly'within the wrapper W 3 and braced in this upright disposition by the retaining tab 34. Alternatively, the lap panel 32 might be secured in overlapping relation to the lap panel 28 with adhesive, or by stapling, or in any other suitable manner desired.

The form of blank for the wrapper W used in the package illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4 is shown in Fig. 5, in which the blank is seen to be of elongated substantially rectangular form and to be transversely scored for defining the respective panel portions thereof in a foldably hinged series extending in opposite directions from the top wall panel portion which has an intermediate disposition in the blank, the side wall panel portions 16 and 18 being respectively arranged at opposite sides of the top wall panel portion lit the lap panel portion 28 being arranged at the opposite side of the side wall panel portion 16, with the center partition panel portion 30 arranged in turn thereon as one end portion of the wrapper blank, and the second lap panel portion 32 being arranged at the opposite side of the side wall panel portion 18 as the other end portion of the wrapper blank. The lap panels 28 and 32 are further preferably formed, respectively, with apertures 42 and 44 arranged to provide for gripping the wrapper W and drawing it tightly about the bottles B for securing thereon in the course of a packaging operation as disclosed in further detail in U. S. Patent No. 2,809,486. The blank may further incorporate side edge portions 46 scored for folding and securing in doubled relation, as seen in Figs. 1 and 4, to reinforce the edges at the open ends of the wrapper W.

The present invention has been described in detail above for purposes of illustration only and is not intended to be limited by this description or otherwise except as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A package comprising a group of objects arranged in two rows and enclosed in an open-ended wrapper folded and secured thereabout, said wrapper comprising an elongated paperboard blank scored transversely and folded about said group of objects with one end portion of said blank extending in separating relation between the rows of objects in said group, an adjacent blank portion being disposed in covering relation at the ends of the objects in one of said rows and being of greater width than the objects in said row, the other end portion of said blank being disposed in covering relation at the corresponding ends of the objects in the other of said rows and being secured in overlapping relation to said adjacent blank portion in an aggregate width corresponding to the total width of both rows of said objects, said adjacent blank portion exceeding in width the objects of the row at which it is disposed in covering relation, and means retaining said objects within said open-ended wrapper, said retaining means including means incorporated in said first mentioned blank end portion which last mentioned means positions the objects in the other of said rows within said wrapper.

2. A package comprising a group of similar objects arranged in two aligned rows and enclosed in an openended wrapper folded and secured thereabout, said wrapper comprising an elongated paperboard blank scored transversely to define a series of connected portions, one end portion of said series being disposed in separating relation between the rows of objects in said group, the adjacent portion of said series being disposed in covering relation at one of the ends of the objects in one of said rows and being of greater width than the objects in said row, the other end portion of said series being disposed in covering relation at the corresponding ends of the objects in the other of said rows and being secured in overlapping relation to said adjacent portion in an aggregate width corresponding to the total width of both rows of said objects, and means retaining said objects within said open-ended wrapper, said retaining means including means formed in said first mentioned end portion which last 4 mentioned means positions the objects in the other of said rows within said wrapper.

3. A package comprising a group of similar objects arranged in two aligned rows and enclosed in an openended wrapper folded and secured transversely about said rows, said wrapper comprising an elongated paperboard blank scored transversely to define a series of connected portions, an intermediate portion of said series being disposed across both rows of said objects, adjacent portions of said series on each side of said intermediate portion being disposed at the outer opposite sides of said rows of objects in said group, a lap portion of said series at one of said adjacent portions being disposed endwise of the objects in the row adjacent thereto and being greater in width than the objects in said row, an end portion of said series at said lap portion being disposed in separating relation between the rows of objects in said group, the other end portion of said series at the other of said adjacent portions being disposed endwise of the objects in the other row adjacent thereto and being secured in overlapping relation to said lap portion in an aggregate width corresponding to the total width of both rows of said objects and also corresponding substantially to the width of said intermediate portion of said series, and means retaining said objects within said open-ended wrapper, said retaining means including means formed in said first mentioned end portion which last mentioned means positions the objects in the other of said rows within said wrapper.

4. A package as defined in claim 3 and further characterized in that said positioning means incorporated in said first mentioned end portion comprises spaced openings formed therein along the edge thereof adjacent said lap portion and at each of which openings a central tab extension reaches substantially to said lap portion.

5. A package as defined in claim 4 and further characterized in that said openings are further defined by foldably hinged flaps slit at each side of said tab extensions.

6. A package as defined in claim 3 and further characterized in that the adjacent portion of said series at which said lap portion is arranged has spaced openings formed therein along the edge thereof at said lap portion for positioning the objects in the row thereat, and the other of said adjacent portions in said series presents a continuous uninterrupted surface.

7. A paperboard blank adapted to form an open-ended wrapper for packaging a group of objects arranged in two rows, said blank having an elongated form and being transversely scored to define a series of foldably connected panel portions comprising an intermediate panel portion in said series, adjacent panel portions serially arranged at opposite sides of said intermediate panel portion in substantially paired relation, a lap panel portion foldably connected in series with one of said adjacent panel portions and extending in width in excess of onehalf the width of the intermediate panel portion, an end panel portion foldably connected in series with said lap panel portion and approaching in width the Width of said adjacent panel portions, and a second end panel yortion foldably connected in series with the other of said adjacent panel portions and extending in width sutficient for overlapping and securing to said lap panel portion in an aggregate width corresponding substantially to the width of said intermediate panel portion, said first r entioned end panel portion being further formed with slit tabs therein extending freely toward the edge thereof foldably connected to said lap panel portion.

8. A paperboard blank adapted to form an open-ended wrapper for packaging a group of objects arranged in two rows, said blank having an elongated form and being transversely scored to define a series of foldably connected panel portions comprising an intermediate panel portion in said series, adjacent panel portions serially arranged at opposite sides of said intermediate panel portion in substantially paired relation, a lap panel portion foldably connected in series with one of said adjacent panel portions and extending in width in excess of one-half the width of the intermediate panel portion, an end panel portion foldably connected in series with said lap panel portion and approaching in width the width of said adjacent panel portions, and a second end'panel portion foldably connected in series with the other of said adjacent panel portions and extending in width sufficient for overlapping and securing to said lap panel portion in an aggregate Width corresponding substantially to the width of said intermediate panel portion, said first a mentioned end panel portion being further formed with slit portions therein spaced along the edge thereof fo1tlably connected to said lap panel portion.

References Cited In the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,289,859 Arthur July 14, 1942. 2,765,073 Murray Oct. 2, 1956 10 2,818,171 Andre Dec. 31, 1957 

